Dead Man Walking: Living By Day, Dead By Night-Chapter 344: Prelude to the End
Balthasar was correct in his assessment. Zane had traveled to New York, skirting across the Atlantic at sustained hypersonic speed, as barriers like the Sea no longer impeded his travel.
And with him, Zane brought an army of the dead the size of the world's lost population. His expression was void of basic emotion, yet his eyes were aflame. For too long, he had been on this quest for power, and soon it would come to an end.
However, when Zane arrived at the seat of Damian's power, he found that there was nothing to fight. Every single undead in Damian's horde had been moved elsewhere. And Zane had no clue where they would have relocated to.
Well, that was not entirely true… There was one letter left behind, stained in the blood of what was presumed to be a living human being. The letters were still freshly dripping from the page, as the sanguine substance spelled the words.
"Since your power is so great, Balthasar extends a challenge, to fight us all in Tokyo. One last stand, one final duel, you versus us, see who survives, and who will reign over this dying world as its true King. – Damian"
Zane crumpled the letter in his hands before the paper rapidly began to decay and wither until nothing remained. It had completely decomposed in his hands as his gaze looked eastward towards where the last struggle lie in his war against the dead.
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Elena, Olivia, Angelica, Madison, and Lily gazed in disbelief at Maya, who had revealed her true form to them all. Zane's mother… But wasn't Zane's mother dead? Didn't he kill her personally early on? And how did they not recognize that their adopted mute daughter was real and undead monster the entire time?
Elena's instinct was naturally to react to this revelation by unleashing her blade, and withdrawing backwards, wary of the power that Maya must possess in order to escape their notice even now as they were reaching a level on par with Tier IV Horde Kings.
Death, however, gazed upon the effort, and sighed as she shook her head. Snapping her fingers and causing all of the girls to enter a state of [Corruption], the clock ticking visibly in their eyes towards their deaths, as black lines spread across their bodies, and they fell to the floor paralyzed.
A simply sigh escaped from the woman's lips, as she shook her head, tired, exhausted even at the nonsense these girls put her through on a daily basis. Her voice was reaching the point of absolute collapse as she spoke her thoughts aloud with an unbridled fury in her eyes.
"I have put up with the lot of you little girls long enough, and I have done so for the sake of my son, and the love he bears for you all. But I'm not going to tolerate you fools fighting me. It's a losing battle no matter how hard you try.
But the good news is the endgame is coming. Zane will be fighting the remaining Horde Kings in Tokyo, and when he wins, he will claim his rightful place as the ruler of this dead world. So, I'm going to do you girls a favor, and make it so you're capable of watching his victory up close and personal.
Elena tried her best not to scream in agony as the black lines spreading across her body turned fiery red, and burned hot like the flames they visibly represented as they did so. But she endured them, because from what the system was telling her this was a good thing.
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[You have been kissed by the Mother of Death… Your power is increasing rapidly!]
[Level up!]
[Level up!]
[Level up!]
[Level up!]
[Level up!]
[Level up!]
[Level up!]
[Level up!]
---
No matter how she looked at it, the levels kept increasing until they finally crossed the threshold and reached the maximum level of 100. And she was not alone in this regard. Olivia, Madison, Angelica, and Lily had all endured the same torment.
And when the "Corruption" came to an end, and their levels were maximized, there was a grim message they were all forced to face.
[By reaching the maximum level, and enduring untold states of corruption, you have now become a Revenant, neither dead, nor living, you will be forced to walk through this world until the day you truly join the dead.]
Immediately, the race of the girls changed from "Living Human" to "Revenant" on their screens, causing them to pause in horror as Death smiled at them. Revealing with a twisted tone in her voice the reality of the blood crystals they had been consuming like rock candy for the last few decades.
"What? You don't seriously think that I would give the living a fighting chance to survive in this world without some strings attached did you? By the looks of it you're starting to understand. I created all of this, and I did so for my son, to give him a world fit for his rule.
You all have been consuming my power and twisting yourselves into something inhuman all this time. Did none of you ever think to understand why the rebuff that affects you all when you consume a crystal is called 'corruption?' Or what it means when you have reached the maximum level by corrupting yourselves?
Well this is it, this is what you wanted, power… And power always comes at a cost. It's a good thing for all of you, that Zane was born a Revenant… He has since evolved into something greater, but you all will now understand what it means to neither be living, nor dead, to never truly belong in either world, despite desiring to. freēwēbηovel.c૦m
And you will have the opportunity to do so just in time to watch the climax of this story unfold. Now, how about we go crash this party together, why don't we?"
Before Elena or the others could even react, Death snapped her fingers, and they were all transported across the world to the ruins of Tokyo where Zane was rapidly closing in on the Horde Kings standing atop what remained of the city's highest tower.
A storm began to erupt as Zane's voice echoed throughout the entirety of the city, where the dead across all of Japan had gathered to watch the showdown unfold.
"Reveal yourselves and let's do this…"
